GATE CS 2014 Set 2 Q42 — Programming in C

Let us trace the execution of the function $f(j)$ when $j = 50$:

1. The static variable i is initialized to $50$ (this happens only once at the start of the program).
2. When we call f(50), the parameter j is $50$.
3. The condition if (i == j) evaluates to 50 == 50, which is true.
4. The function prints "something" and then recursively calls k = f(i), which is f(50).
5. This recursive call f(50) repeats the exact same sequence of steps, leading to an infinite recursion.

Because there is no base case to terminate this recursion when $j = 50$, the program will continuously push new activation records onto the call stack, eventually resulting in a stack overflow (exhausting the runtime stack).

Thus, option D is the correct choice.